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Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger
__NOWYSIWYG__ The Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger German was a heavy tank developed in 1942 and used in World War II. It was an answer to the unexpectedly formidable Soviet armour encountered in the initial months of Operation Barbarossa, particularly the T-34 and the KV-1. The Tiger I design gave the Wehrmacht its first tank mounting the 88 mm gun, which had previously demonstrated its effectiveness against both air and ground targets. During the course of the war, the Tiger I saw combat on all German battlefronts. It was usually deployed in independent tank battalions. It's considered to be one of the most balanced heavy tank designs World War II. However, it was over-engineered, used expensive and labour intensive materials and production methods, and was time-consuming to produce. Only 1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944, in 1944 production was phased out in favour of the Tiger II. Ausf. E "Mid Version" The Tiger (which was the first German tank using an animal nickname) is a very powerful tank and superior to all medium tanks in direct combat. With the high velocity gun it's very easy to hit targets even at a great distance. The armor is also pretty good, even the sides can withstand many cannons. A weak point is the vulnerable track sets though. Another disadvantage is the low turning speed of the turret which fast enemy tanks can sometimes utilise to escape from the deadly 8.8 cm gun. Production started in July 1942 and one month later the first Tiger tank was delivered. There was just one official production, the Ausf E, however several modifications in the design had been made as suggested by its crews. Those modifications are known as the early, mid and late production. The first "early" production model included the high commander cupola without a telescope (it used bullet proof glass as its vision ports), 90mm NbK 39 smoke dischargers mounted on the turret, rubber road wheels (not the rimmed road wheels), dual headlights, pistol ports in the turret and Feifel air cleaners. The Mid saw some modifications. It had a shorter commander cupola with seven periscopes, a swiveling cupola hatch and a ring mount for the MG34 machinegun for AA-defence. The dual headlights were replaced by a single headlight. The rubber road wheels were replaced by rimmed road wheels with rubber, but the first outer wheels were often removed due to the muddy and snowy terrain on the Eastern front. From August 1943 onward, anti-magnetic paste called Zimmerit was applied. The Feifel air cleaners on the back were removed. The pistol ports were not removed. Seat 4 controls the two pistol ports on the back of the turret, which you can switch between via "A" and "D". That helps in defending the Tiger against infantry that tries to sneak up from behind. About 470 units of the mid production series were produced between July 1943 and January 1944. Some of the early Tiger I tanks were returned to the factory for repair. Some units used early Tiger I's that had be repaired at the factory and received new all steel road wheels, new tracks and had the feifel filters removed. BF1942 2014-10-11 23-15-44-75.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-15-49-07.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-15-52-89.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-16-00-86.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-16-06-24.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-16-16-41.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-18-24-36.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-18-27-50.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-18-30-36.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-18-35-58.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-18-45-32.jpg BF1942 2014-10-11 23-13-55-10.jpg Tiger_EUROPE_1944_FALL_1.jpg Tiger_EUROPE_1944_FALL_2.jpg Tiger_EUROPE_EASTERN_1943_SPRING_1.jpg Tiger_EUROPE_EASTERN_1943_SPRING_2.jpg Tiger_NO_CAMO_1.jpg Tiger_NO_CAMO_2.jpg Ausf. E mit 7.5 cm A18 KwK The Tiger I equipped with the 7.5 cm A18 gun was a Czech project, the gun of which was to be used on the Skoda T-25. This tank never left the drawing board but it’s rumoured that they armed one Tiger with this gun after the war for testing purposes. It has less penetration than the regular 8.8 cm KwK but a very high rate of fire because it has an auto loader similar to the Jagdpanther’s in the current version of FHSW. Tiger_mit_A18_1.jpg Tiger_mit_A18_2.jpg Tiger_mit_A18_3.jpg BF1942 2014-08-15 00-02-10-31.jpg BF1942 2014-08-15 00-02-21-74.jpg BF1942 2014-08-15 00-02-23-85.jpg BF1942 2014-08-15 00-02-34-55.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 23-53-38-57.jpg Tiger in American Service After the war, German equipment was taken by the USA, Great Britain, Russia and others. In Alaska, the USA collected Maus turrets and one damaged Tiger. The tiger was so heavily damaged, it could reach only a speed of around 10 km/h and the turret could only be rotated manually. Type 4 The Tiger was also used by the Japanese forces as the Type 4. In 1943, Japan bought several specimens of German tank designs for study. A single Tiger I was apparently purchased along with one Panther and two Panzer III's, but only the Panzer III's were actually delivered. The undelivered Tiger was loaned to the German Wehrmacht by the Japanese government. It is possible that the tank was not used, but this is FHSW! BF1942 2014-08-03 17-32-05-21.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-32-12-57.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-32-08-71.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-32-45-29.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-32-37-40.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-32-32-40.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-32-19-20.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-33-05-61.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-35-10-48.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-35-06-64.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-35-34-26.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-35-25-48.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-35-18-91.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-35-14-91.jpg BF1942 2014-08-03 17-31-43-53.jpg Ausf. E "Late Version" The model of the "late" variant is identical with the "mid" Tiger, only the pistol port seat was replaced with the more efficient Nahverteidigungswaffe. The gun travel lock was discontinued and the gun sight was changed from a binocular TZF9b to a monocular TZF9c. Late production Tigers are most easily identified as the rubber rimmed road wheels were replaced with steel road wheels and even placed in a different order. And since version 0.55, we can finally see the different between our mid and late models! Thank you FHSWman for the new texture! BF1942 2014-08-14 19-25-42-40.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-26-09-99.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-26-13-87.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-26-18-20.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-26-22-25.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-26-36-80.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-26-47-58.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-26-53-35.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-21-06-41.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-31-27-21.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-31-29-89.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-31-33-83.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-31-37-99.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 19-31-41-62.jpg BF1942 2014-11-09 21-32-32-37.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-34-17-05.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-34-23-12.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-34-30-43.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-34-37-19.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-34-43-67.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-34-51-23.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-36-30-15.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-36-34-01.png BF1942 2014-11-09 21-36-40-43.png Ausf. E "Late Version" with 88mm KwK 43 L/71 When the Tiger reached the front lines, it was a very powerful tank. However, a more powerful tank was needed soon. The Nashorn and Ferdinand tank destroyers used a more powerful and longer gun than the 88mm KwK 36 which was used on the Tiger. This was the 88mm KwK 43 L/71 gun. The gun from the Tiger was to be replaced by this gun, however the design phase became delayed and the newer Königstiger design, removed the need for the improved Tiger design, which was later cancelled. T-VI-100 The Soviets were able to capture a small amount of Tigers and even used some of them in battle. One project in late 1944 by OKB-43 suggested to re-arm one Tiger with the 100 mm D-10T. The project was approved but in Spring 1945 there was no need for this vehicle anymore and it was dropped. Tiger_mit_D-10_1.jpg Tiger_mit_D-10_2.jpg Tiger_mit_D-10_3.jpg T-VI-100_1.jpg T-VI-100_2.jpg T-VI-100_3.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-30-10-20.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-30-16-35.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-30-24-46.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-30-32-90.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-30-39-72.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-30-42-77.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-31-07-56.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-33-51-35.jpg BF1942 2014-08-13 18-28-43-19.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 14-31-04-99.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 14-31-09-56.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 14-31-12-00.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 14-31-15-80.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 14-31-18-73.jpg BF1942 2014-08-14 14-31-27-57.jpg Category:Night Vision Category:Heavy tanks Category:German Equipment Category:Japanese Equipment Category:Italian Equipment Category:American Equipment Category:Soviet Equipment